Just a Little Virus
by TheSecretWriter75
Summary: Henry gets sick and Regina takes care of him. After all, she never gets sick. Right?


**I hate flu season. And school. Mix them together and it just plain sucks. I feel like total crap right now so I figured I'd have a little fun with Henry and Regina (and Emma). Sorry if it's not that good. I'm kind of out of it right now (Thank God for Spell Check). Hope you like it anyway!**

**I don't own Once because if I did, there would be no more 'three weeks from tonight' and there would be a musical episode. Just saying.**

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"Henry, it's seven o'clock. You were supposed to be up half an hour ago," Regina said walking into her son's room.

"Mommy, I don't feel good," Henry moaned.

Regina's face instantly softened when she heard him call her mommy and she leaned down over his bed. She brushed her hand against his forehead and gasped at the apparent warmth. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"My tummy hurts and my nose is stuffy and my throat hurts."

"Alright. You're not going to school today. Do you think you're going to get sick?" Henry shook his head. "Okay. I'll go make you some toast. You just rest."

Regina sighed after she closed Henry's door. There was no way she was going into work today. She headed into her room, kicked off her heels and changed from her blouse, blazer and pencil skirt to a much more comfortable sweatshirt and jeans. After that, she went downstairs and popped some bread into the toaster.

Henry rarely ever got sick and when he did, it normally only lasted a day or two. Plus, he wasn't really that hard to please. For the most part, he would just sleep it off or watch movies. It was just tiresome. And if Miss Swan found out, it would most certainly be the end of the world.

The toast popped up just as the mayor got off the phone with the school. She set it on a plate and went back upstairs. She narrowly avoided falling down the stairs as Henry barreled past her. She placed the toast down in his bedroom and followed the sounds of retching to the bathroom where Henry was coughing into the toilet.

Regina sat down next to him and gently rubbed soothing circles on his back. When he was done, she reached up and flushed the toilet. Henry leaned into her side and she smiled unconsciously, running her hand through his hair. After a few minutes, she looked at the boy.

"Do you want to try going back to bed?" Henry nodded and Regina helped him up and brought him back into his room. He climbed into bed and immediately snuggled down into the blankets. "Do you want anything?"

"Comic books?" Henry asked.

"Avengers or X-men?" Regina asked.

"X-men!" Henry said. "Please?" he added quickly.

Regina grabbed a pile of comic books off the bookshelf and handed them to the boy. "Enjoy sweetheart."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just going downstairs. I'm behind on some paperwork. Are you going to get sick again?"

"I don't think so. But stay with me?"

Regna hesitated for a moment. She was going to leave, but Henry actually wanted her, not Emma. There was no way she was passing up this opportunity. "Alright," she said. She sat down on the bed and leaned back against the headboard. "What should we start with?"

"Wolverine!" Henry exclaimed. His voice was hoarse and congested, but it was music to Regina's ears. She grabbed the comic he held out to her and started to read.

Not ten minutes passed before Henry drifted off to sleep. Regina kissed his warm forehead and slid off the bed. She really did have work to do. Plus a grumble from her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything that morning.

She was making herself a cup of coffee when she heard the toilet flush. She set her mug down and upstairs where she saw Henry laying on the bathroom floor again.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Regina asked. She sat down next to him and brushed his hair away from his face.

"No," Henry said. "I didn't think was gonna get sick again."

Regina looked at him and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. "Come here," she said. She pulled him into a hug not caring that he was sick. "Calm down. It's okay. You just have a virus. By tomorrow you'll feel a million times better."

After a few minutes, Henry calmed down, but he almost immediately turned back over the toilet and threw up the few bites of toast he had taken. When he was done, Regina flushed the toilet and let him lean into her side. Every few minutes he would get sick, but after almost an hour, he fell asleep on the tiled floor.

Regina couldn't carry him, so she shook him gently awake and led him back to bed.

"Do you want to me to stay with you again?" she asked.

"No," Henry said. "I don't want you to get sick."

"I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about you. Do want me to sit up here?"

"I'm okay. Really this time."

"Alright. I'm going to get you some medicine. I'll be right back."

Regina rummaged around in the bathroom cabinets until she found the children's Tylenol, cough syrup and Sudafed. She measured out the dosages and returned to Henry's room. The boy willingly took the medications and then fell back into an uneasy sleep. She prayed he would keep them down.

Regina made her way back downstairs and had just settled down at the table with a pile of papers when the doorbell rang. She was honestly a bit surprised at how unsurprised she was when she opened the door and saw Emma Swan standing on her front steps.

"What do you want?" Regina snapped.

"I was supposed to pick up Henry from school today, but Mary Margaret said he never showed up. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Henry just caught a virus. He'll be fine." Regina tried to close the door, but Emma stopped her.

"Is he alright?"

"Of course. It's just something that's going around. He'll be better within a few days. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Yale, huh?"

"Excuse me?" Regina asked, whirling around.

"Your sweatshirt. Mary Margaret and I pegged you as a Harvard girl."

"Well you were wrong. No shock there really. Good bye, Sheriff."

"Wait. Do you need any help?" Emma asked.

"I've been taking care of him for ten years. I think I know what I'm doing."

"No, I just mean…you know. I could watch him for a little while if you needed to get some work done and so you don't get sick."

"I'm not worried about getting sick," Regina snapped. "I don't get sick. I'm worried about Henry. You are not wanted or needed here. Don't you have work to do anyway? It seems like a perfect day for a car to run off the road into that ditch at the edge of town."

"Alright. Well if you need me, just call," Emma said.

"Thank you, Miss Swan," Regina started. She was about to say something else when her breath hitched. Emma watched with wide eyes as Regina Mills, the great and powerful mayor, Miss Hell-in-Heels herself, sneezed into her arm.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked.

"I'm fine," Regina said.

"Whatever. It's your problem. Tell Henry I hope he feels better soon."

"I will. Now good bye, Miss Swan."

Regina closed the door and sat back down at the table. Henry was still sleeping soundly upstairs and with any luck he would be fine by tomorrow. She wasn't even worried about that sneeze. After all, she never got sick. Why should she be worried?

She picked up her pen and began reading through the documents in front of her. Everything was fine for almost ten full minutes.

Then her nose started to itch. She blinked and wiggled it trying to relieve the tingle, but she only succeeded in making it worse. She sneezed into her elbow and had to get up and get a tissue. It was then that she realized that her throat was sore and she could feel the onset of a headache.

Well crap.


End file.
